The Kaikorai Valley College senior netball team was second in the B grade competition of the Otago championships, only losing in the final.
Year 9 pupil Georgia Wilkinson has had success in synchronised swimming. In the recent Otago championships, Georgia was first in the 13, 14 and 15-year age grades. She was first in solo and figures and first in the combo section, which teams of 11 contested. Georgia's achievements reflect her commitment and dedication.
The school had its first win for five years in its winter sports exchange with Riccarton High School.
The winning of the exchange came down to the rugby match.
Riccarton was unbeaten in Christchurch this season and led 12-0 at the break. But the home side fought back brilliantly to win 31-12 to win the game.
Overall, the college won the exchange 30-25.
John McGlashan
John McGlashan College had a successful exchange with St Andrew's College in Christchurch.
Eight activities were represented: rugby, football, basketball, hockey, trapshooting, debating, badminton and theatre sports. McGlashan lost the exchange 5-3 but was competitive in all events.
Swimming NZ has selected six boys to attend the South Island coaching clinic in Queenstown, five of whom attend John McGlashan.
They are Jeremy Hopkins, Han Zhang, Ronald Poon, Thomas Heaton and Courtland Ellis.
Two pupils attended the NZ cross-country championships in Auckland recently. Joshua Browne finished 26th out of a field of 200 and Joe Beamish 41st out of about 240 in their respective races.
The trapshooting team took part in the Southland intercollegiate competition in May. This is the first event of the season and Hugh Lindsay, Garth Sanders, and Clint McAughtrie won 13 medals and two trophies between them.
Otago Girls' High School
Recently the OGHS sports department ran a coaching workshop for volunteer and student coaches. Presenters included Nicki Paterson from Netball Otago, Jock Murley, who has coached volleyball for the past 40 years, and Ian Craven, a member of Sport and Exercise New Zealand and a mental skills trainer. The senior cross-country team won the Otago secondary schools championships at Wingatui in late May. The team was made up of Anna Kean, Mary Gray, Talia Oldham and Margie Anderson. Anna won the senior girls' race. She was 12th in the NZ secondary schools cross-country championships senior girls race, being the first Otago athlete home.
Mary Gray has been named in the NZ mountain bike team to go to Austria at the end of August. Mary has won national junior title for the past two years. Mary has also been on the road cycling circuit, and selected in the NZ junior team to travel to Canberra in July.
Bayfield High School
In the last Bayfield High School report, it was mentioned that Shannon Hope was travelling to complete in two rounds of the world mountain bike cross-country series. It is actually her older sister Samantha who is competing in these races.
Samantha won the overall under-19 female section at the South Island mountain bike championships earlier in the year, was second in the Oceania event in Rotorua, and second at the national championships in Nelson.
Samantha's first race is in Quebec, Canada. She then travels to Windham, just two hours from New York City, where she will also race. Life is very busy for the 16-year-old, year 12 Bayfield pupil.
East Otago High School
East Otago High School is well into its winter sport season with seven basketball teams, four netball teams, and two hockey teams competing. More than 50 pupils are playing rugby and the school is grateful for the close association with the Eastern, Alhambra-Union and Sassenachs clubs.
In 2011, the school participation rate in organised sport continued to grow. The focus is to maintain this level by identifying and surveying those pupils not involved in sport.
The reasons given by a third of year 9 pupils who are not involved in any organised physical activity were: being too old to start playing sport; not wanting to play competitive sport; nothing offered they were interested in, and can't get to and from sports.
It is planned to organise a lunchtime activities programme including a dodgeball competition and archery, and an after-school badminton club. A move will also be made to put pupils in contact with local clubs to broaden the number of activities available.
Transport has always been an issue with pupils in rural areas. All East Otago High School teams compete in Dunedin, which requires up to an hour's travel to and from sport. The school has e three vans available to transport teams.
Taieri College
The senior sports academy is in full swing with 12 athletes involved.
Their sports range from equestrian to netball and athletics. The pupils have studied nutrition, boxing and two media training workshops, and have also visited the High Performance Sport New Zealand centre in Dunedin.
The Taieri College junior sports academy has been running for the past two years. Karen Dunlea (head of health and physical education) and Dr Tania Cassidy (senior lecturer at the School of Physical Education at the University of Otago) have been giving up their early Wednesday mornings to help run the programme.
The sports academy starts at 7.45am and runs for an hour every second Wednesday. It is held in the Taieri College gymnasium and the EPU.
King's High School
King's had an impressive 25 athletes compete in trying conditions at the Otago secondary schools cross-country championships.
The outstanding individual performance came from Jonah Smith, who finished second in the senior 6km race. It was a close contest as Jonah was leading almost down to the final 500m. Anthony Trainor finished third, pushing hard after sustaining a knee strain in the first lap. The senior boys' team of Jonah, Anthony, and Miles van der Heu edged out a strong John McGlashan team to win the team trophy for the second year in a row.
Will Meiklejohn (third), Luke Maker (fifth) and Hayden Carey (sixth) combined to win the intermediate title.
Nathan MacDonell (fifth), Joe Matthews (sixth), and Johnny Oldham (seventh) combined to claim the under-15. The under-14 grade had a large turnout and the school's top three runners, Camble Mann (fourth), Sam Tindley (fifth) and Silas Kemp (sixth), finished a close second to John McGlashan in the teams' race.
David White showed his talents by winning a gold medal at the New Zealand secondary schools AWD cross-country in Auckland recently.
Dunstan High School
Three Dunstan cyclists, Ryan MacKay, Georgia Vessey and Tom Vessey, competed at the national club road championships in May against the best in their age groups.
They all performed well, with Tom claiming a bronze medal in the under-19 race, the last of the selection races for national teams.
Both Georgia and Tom have been selected in the NZ team for their respective age groups. Georgia made the six-strong girls team to compete in the Canberra Tour next month, and Tom made the eight-strong under-19 men's team to compete in the Australian road championships and the Canberra Tour in June and July.
Tom has also made the NZ road team to compete at the world championships in Holland in September. He is also reserve cyclist for the time trial. Tom and Georgia have recently returned from training in New Plymouth.
The Alexandra Samurai Karate Club is the first club to have won the overall competition at the national championships for three consecutive years. Pupils from Dunstan High School excelled, with Cole Mackie winning both the senior premier kata and kumite, Isabella Grant winning the senior premier women's kumite, and Jeremy Norbury and Hamish Mackay winning gold medals in the intermediate premier competition.
Dunstan had three pupils compete in the New Zealand secondary schools multisport championships recently in Rotorua. The race consisted of a 4km lake paddle followed by a 15km mountain bike and a 6km trail run.
Emily McGimpsey won silver in the under-19 girls' race, behind a world junior triathlon champion.
Sam McCulloch (under-16 boys) won silver, and Kensa Randle (under-14 girls) won gold. Kensa dominated the kayak leg to give herself a comfortable lead. She also rode well to beat her time from last year by 9min.
Dunstan junior, intermediate and senior A netball teams competed at the Otago secondary schools tournament in Dunedin recently, with all three teams making the top eight in their respective sections.
The junior team won its grade.
St Hilda's Collegiate
The St Hilda's cross-country team has had a successful and busy season. In the Logan Park road race, Harriet Keown finished second in the junior girls' race, and Caitlin O'Brien and Meg McKay were second and third respectively in the senior race.
At the King's relay, four St Hilda's senior teams competed, with first, third, fifth and sixth placings. Three junior teams also competed, with first, fourth and fifth placings.
The teams were also successful at the Otago-Southland cross-country relays in Milton, with the senior teams placing second, third, fifth and seventh, and the junior teams placing first, second and third. Caitlin O'Brien recorded the fastest senior time and Harriet Keown the fastest junior time.
At the Otago cross-country championships, St Hilda's won the team event in the under-14, under-15 and under-16 grades and was second in the senior girls. Anna Lindsay was third in the under-14 girls, Harriet Keown was second in the under-15 girls, Meg McKay and Maddy McAllister were first and second respectively in the under-16 girls. Caitlin O'Brien was third in the senior girls race.
Calendar
June 29: South Island swimming, Invercargill
June 30-July 2: Under-17 netball, Dunedin
July 1: South Island synchronised swimming, Dunedin
July 2-4: Girls rugby festival, Oamaru; South Island junior netball, Christchurch
July 3-6: NZ area schools tournament, Dunedin
• These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association (OSSSA), which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual. Contact Des Smith, Otago regional sports director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin. Email: des@osssa.org.nz
